Posts: 4

Topic: two questions

First question: I have had unexplicable fevers twice now. Somewhere around 2 in the afternoon I will start feeling bad and by the end of the evening I'm up to 102 fever, it will last a day or two and then gone. Last night I had 101.8 and this morning--gone. It's wierd. Has this happenned to anyone else? What could it be? Probably should have gone to ER but didn't want to go just the hear them say "it's probably viral" and send me home spending $150 copay.

Second question: Is it an okay option to do nothing and just "watch" this tumor and cat scan every 8 weeks? I feel like we should be doing something, but don't want to do something just for the sake of doing something. What do ya'll think?

Re: two questions

Hi, I will try to address this, based on my experience...I had fevers almost every evening after surgery and during chemo. They were almost always gone in the morning. They ranged from 100.5-101.5. I was told to call the onc if that happened, but i didn't unless it was 101.5. Usually I just took a Tylenol and went to sleep. My suggestion to you is to call your onc and let them know you are having recurring fevers that are gone in the morning. You may be fighting a low grade infection. Especially if it consistently gets over 101. They may tell you to take it easy and take some med or other.

As far as to treat or not. That is a very personal decision. No one can tell you what to do. We recently had a discussion with another member of the board about this very topic. There are so many options out there now, with new ones every day. I suggest discussing this with your onc, also. If the cells are quiet right now, they sometimes will suggest you give your body a "rest". I went through that also, as my body doesn't like chemo. We let my body rest until the scans showed new activity, then attacked it again. I wanted to keep attacking, but now I understand the chemo was too toxic for me and my onc wanted my body to heal. While I understand, I still don't fully agree with what we did, as I missed my window for a resection as a result. But I am now on a trial with very few side effects and stability going on 10 months, so I'm not going to complain!

I hope this helps. Please keep us posted on your decision.

KrisJ"Don't just have minutes in the day; have moments in time."Any opinions I give are based on personal experiences, and are not based on medical knowledge. I strongly suggest receiving medical care and opinions.

Re: two questions

yes, yes. I have had these kinds of fevers. But the cause was only once an infection and they were not even entirely sure of that. If a round of cipro does not cure you they will just say fever of unknown origin. It has been explained to me that it can also be the result of tumor necrosis factor, like after y-90. And yes, these daily ups and downs can easily happen with chemo too. I only get worried if I go over 102.5 but that is my personal experience only after a year of fighting this cc with surgery, radiation, and chemo. Usually they want you to call if you hit 101.5. I also get worried if the fever is there first thing in the morning - - for me it's always afternoon/evening and gone by midnight. wierd, but the body has ways of dealing with things. I never take anything for fever, that's just me again. Fever can be exhausting -- take good care of yourself and try to nap them away. Good luck. Holly

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